Homefires Burning
by Usher
Summary: When a Marine Sergeant's body is discovered beneath the ice of a frozen pond, the Team receive a threat in the middle of the night that just might prove deadly. A look at what might have happened if La Vida Mala had carried through with the threat made in the Interrogation Room in S03 Ep19.


Gibbs rolled over in the bed and tried to suppress a groan as his cell phone began its incessant beeping once more, only this time with added vibration, making it hop across the nightstand.

He was exhausted. A couple of kids had stumbled across the body of a missing Marine in a frozen lake. As they searched the lake, three more bodies had been found, connected to the death of yet another Marine whose company was waiting to come home from war; a fact that weighed heavily on his mind. The longer it took to solve the case, the longer those boys sat in the danger zone. Now the entire case hinged on one street gang, or rather, on the street gang's leader.

They'd all left NCIS at 1 in the morning and he'd stumbled down the stairs to stare at his boat for a half hour before pouring himself into the bed. Glancing at the clock, he realised he'd gotten nearly three hours sleep, though it didn't feel that way. Groaning again, he fumbled for the phone and answered it with a barked "What?!"

"Do you know where your people are at? It can get pretty toasty on a night like this." The voice was Hispanic and Gibbs sat bolt upright, sleep draining away.

"El Gordo? Or is this Cesar?" Gibbs murmured calmly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"I don't think that matters, Senor Gibbs. As I said before, do you know where your people are at?"

Gibbs bit back a curse as the line went dead and he hit speed dial for Tony as he dragged on a pair of pants.

"Wha?" Tony answered blearily, not opening his eyes.

"Get up DiNozzo." Gibbs barked quickly. "Either Cesar or El Gordo just contacted me. Get dressed and get your ass out of your house. Check your car for suspicious devices. Phone Ziva, tell her to do the same. I'll contact McGee."

Tony sat up and reached for a shirt before his brain even registered what was being said to him. "What did he say boss?"

"Do you know where your people are?"

Tony blinked as the line went dead and pulled on his clothes, shoving his feet into his shoes, reaching for his gun at the same time. Hurriedly he ran through his apartment and looked at the front door nervously. Chewing at his lip for a second, he turned to the window and examined it carefully. Pulling aside the curtains a crack he checked outside for any movement, flicking the safety off his gun. Satisfied no one was waiting outside for him, he carefully opened the window and checked outside the frame…just in case it held any surprises. Ten seconds later, he was running across the lawn of his apartment block headed for his car.

"Ziva, up and attem!" He yelled into the phone. "Get out of the house, don't use the front door and check your car for a bomb!" He added, getting down onto his belly to peer underneath the chassis of the car, "La Vida Mala just contacted Gibbs and-" he blinked as she hung up on him and made a face, stuffing his phone into his pocket. "and why the hell is everyone hanging up on me tonight." Gritting his teeth he continued to search.

Gibbs slid out his window and landed noiselessly, padding over to his car, his gun drawn. None of the neighbour's dogs were making a noise, but he didn't put his trust in that. They could have been drugged or worse. A quick check of his car revealed nothing, and he gingerly wound down the window and started it from outside the car, hoping that if there was an explosion, the closed door would save him some injury. Nothing happened and he breathed a sigh of relief, sliding behind the wheel and dialling McGee as he reversed out of the driveway.

"From now on I'm parking in the garage." He muttered, waiting for the youngest member of the team to answer. When it went straight through to the message minder, he cursed and threw the phone onto the passenger seat, whipping the wheel around and making a 180 degree u-turn, leaving rubber tracks on the road. Pressing his foot down firmly on the gas, he dialled DiNozzo again.

"Get to McGee's. He's not answering!" he yelled, swerving around a slow driver.

DiNozzo nodded and hung up before Gibbs had a chance to, phoning Ziva.

"Gibbs wants you to get to McGee's. He's not answering."

Ziva shook her head, forgetting that he couldn't see her. "I cannot right now Tony. My car has a little bomb underneath it." She grumbled, taking out her knife and flipping the cover off. "I'll follow you there once I have disarmed it."

"Ziva! Don't touch it!" He barked worriedly. "Leave it to the bomb disposal guys. I'll come around and pick you up."

"I can do this Tony!" She protested but sat back on her heels, looking more closely at the bomb. "But perhaps I could use a lift."

XXXXxxxXXXX

Gibbs's car tore around the corner to McGee's apartment block and screeched to a halt beside McGee's car. His jaw slack, he climbed out and stared at the chaos in front of him. Two fire engines sat on the lawn and flames billowed out of Tim's windows and through the roof of the apartment building.

"Sir, you can't park here." A policeman hurried up, ready to shoo him away.

"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS." He hurriedly murmured, reaching for his badge. "Did you get the tenant out?"

"There's someone in there?!" The cop blurted out, turning to look. "Are you sure? Three firemen were in there and they saw no sign of anyone."

Gibbs didn't answer, but took a few more steps closer to the inferno. "He went home hours ago and I doubt he went anywhere else but here." Rubbing his hands down his face he closed his eyes and flinched as an explosion rocked the building, showering debris onto the area cleared around them.

A few minutes later, Tony's car screeched to a stop and Ziva and Tony poured out.

"Bomb under Ziva's car, Boss." He explained quickly, his face pale as he took in the flames that were rapidly being doused. "Did he get out?"

"Fire department couldn't find him before the flames forced them back. His car is here…" He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his gritty eyes.

Tony sagged and sat on the step of the fire engine, propping his head against his hand. "Nah, Probie can't still be in there." He muttered finally. "He'd a found some way to get out…wouldn't he?"

The silence that filled the air answered him and he sagged even more. "Damn."

XXXXxxxXXXX

"Agent Gibbs?"

Jethro looked up and blinked tiredly at the soot-covered fireman in front of him. "Yes?"

"There's no sign of your man inside." He held out a hard hat and gestured for Gibbs to follow him. Dawn had already made its appearance and Gibbs picked his way through the debris strewn hallway in the faint half-light. The captain watched him pause in the doorway and gave him a moment to absorb the scene in front of him.

The apartment was gutted, with heat-mangled heaps of metal in the middle of the main room, where the huge shelving units had once stood. Another puddle in a corner had once been his computer consol and desk, and he felt a pang of emotion when he saw the puddle of still molten metal sitting on the floor in front of the window.

"That was his typewriter." Gibbs murmured, momentarily shaken. Most people's homes only showed a part of them, a glimpse into the inner sanctum as it were. For Gibbs, you had to get to his basement to see that glimpse. Tony's apartment was completely devoid of any personal items, save for the movie posters and huge stack of DVD's in the corner. Ducky and Abby showed a lot of themselves in their homes – Ducky's showed his gentlemanly side, and Abby showed her quirkiness. But McGee's…McGee's showed every part of himself. His computer was a window to his personal life and the clutter around it showed. His friends, his hobbies, all revolved around it. Behind it was his interests. Books, old records and his magazines, all on display for the world to see, if they were invited into his personal space. And in the corner was his true passion. His writing. His books. All now piles of charred ash.

"He wrote?" The Captain asked, slightly surprised.

Gibbs was about to explain, but suddenly felt weary, like the strength had been sucked out of him. "Yeah. He wrote. How did it start?"

The Captain nodded, gesturing to the floor. "It was set. Some kind of accelerant was used. Place went up like a torch. There were a lot of flammable things around so it didn't take long to take hold. The station house is only around the corner so we were on the scene pretty quick."

He led Gibbs around, pointing out where the accelerant had been used, and ended up in the bedroom. "I'll be honest, the fire did a lot of damage, but not this much." He admitted. "Our guys didn't get this far." He poked the ash that had once been the bed with his foot. "The LEO's are more than happy to let this go to you guys." He glanced out the window and frowned. "What's your woman doing?"

Gibbs gave a quick glance through the broken glass before turning back to stare at the bed. "Checking for bombs. There was one underneath her car, there might be one in McGee's…" he trailed off and crouched down, drawing a pen out of his coat pocket. Before the fireman could ask what he was doing, he knocked some ash and debris away and closed his eyes against what was front of him. The remnants of a charcoal skeleton grinned back.

XXXxxxXXX

"Well?" Tony asked as Ziva got back to her feet and dusted off her knees.

"Nothing. His car is clean unless there is something in the trunk." She murmured the strain showing in her eyes. They both turned to the trunk and examined the lock carefully, checking first to see if it was unlocked.

"No sign of tampering." They both announced at the same time and relaxed. "Do you want to pick it?" Ziva asked Tony carefully. Tony shook his head.

"No. If McGee finds out we went through the trunk of his car…" He trailed off and cleared his throat awkwardly. "He's going to turn up alive, Ziva. McGee might be a geek, but he's a good agent. He wouldn't get caught with his pants down." He looked at Ziva for reassurance but she just stared at Gibbs as he approached and leant heavily against the trunk of McGee's car. "Well?"

Gibbs stayed silent for a minute before taking out his cell phone. "Dispatch, I need the Medical Examiner at the following address-"

Tony and Ziva shared a horrified look and Tony took a step towards the apartment building.

"We found a body – there is no guarantee that it is McGee Tony."

They waited in silence for the ME's van to arrive, and were left alone by the PD and the Fire Department, all of whom went around their tasks with less noise than they usually would, in respect for the three federal agents silently mourning their colleague.

When the black van appeared, its speed and erraticness should have signalled that Ziva was at the wheel, but it was a white-faced Ducky that descended from the drivers seat, pale and upset.

"Jethro! What the hell happened?" He demanded as a sleepy Palmer hurried into the building.

Jethro stood tiredly and shook his head sadly. "La Vida Mala Ducky. They left a bomb underneath Ziva's car…and this…" He waved his hand towards the burnt out apartment. "I found a body underneath some debris in the bedroom."

Ducky's shoulders slumped and his face took on a look of utter dejection. "Very well, Jethro. Where did Palmer go?"

Mutely, Ziva pointed to the apartment and the elderly gentleman trudged towards the destruction.

XXXxxxXXX

NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard wasn't surprised to see her secretary waiting for her when she got in that morning, but the look on the woman's face did make her pause.

"Let me guess, Gibbs is inside waiting for me?" She asked with mock brightness. Cynthia nodded.

"So far as I know, he's been there the last twenty minutes Ma'am." Cynthia murmured apologetically. "He was in there when I arrived this morning…"

Jenny nodded and brusquely opened the door to her office, half expecting to find him behind her desk with his feet up. Instead, he was sitting in a chair in front of the polished oak, sipping quietly at a cardboard cup of coffee.

"Jethro, what brings you in here at this godforsaken hour? You were still in the office last night-"

"A bomb was put in Ziva's car last night." He cut her off swiftly. "She found it before it could go off. NCIS bomb disposal got rid of it for her."

Jenny relaxed and shook her head. "Do we know who planted it?"

"La Vida Mala." Gibbs replied shortly. "I got a phone call at about 0300 hours asking me if I knew where my people were. Tony answered immediately. So did Ziva." He paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "By the time we got to McGee's apartment, there was nothing left. Pools of molten metal from his typewriter and his shelves…nothing else. Preliminary investigation shows that the apartment was trashed beforehand and that the fire was deliberately set…accelerant residue was located…" he stopped again and took a deep draught of his coffee to give himself a chance to compose himself before continuing; "And we found a body beneath debris in the bedroom. It's too badly damaged to ID immediately. Ducky and Abby are working on it."

Jenny had to stop herself from gaping and she gripped the arms of her chair tightly. "Oh, Jethro…"

"It might not be him." Jethro replied firmly, a familiar set in his jaw and look in his eye. His old partner knew that look well and backed off, a soft, sad look in her eyes.

XXXxxxXXX

Tears rolled down Abby's cheeks as she began checking the various samples that Ducky had given her for viable DNA. Every so often, a sob would escape and she'd pause to catch her breath, her shoulders shuddering with unvoiced cries of sorrow.

"Abs?"

Gibbs soft voice caught her unawares and she seemed to stiffen, placing the test tube down in its rack with deliberate care.

"You ok?"

"Are you?" Her voice cracked slightly, but she still kept her back to him, hiding her tear-streaked face. She hadn't even put on make up…just run from the house the moment she'd gotten the phone call, hair cascading over her shoulders and hanging in her face.

"Not really." He admitted quietly, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm not finding anything Gibbs." She softly broke the silence a few minutes later. "There's nothing we can use…bone marrow, tissue…it's all destroyed. If…if it's not him, then he's out there somewhere and he needs us and we won't be able to find him. If we don't know who took him and he's all alone, and he might be hurt and-"

A quiet knock on the door broke the spell and Abby finally turned to see who was disturbing them.

"Angela!" She cried out and practically threw herself into the exotic looking woman's arms.

"Hey, Abbs, what's wrong? What's wrong hun?" The stranger asked worriedly, pulling her head back so she could look her friend in the eye. She was shocked at the Goth's normal appearance, and even more so by the tears. "Sweetie, what's going on?"

"A colleague might be dead." Gibbs filled in as Abby continued to sob onto the shorter woman's shoulder. "And then again, he might be missing. We have to ID the body before we can continue."

"And I can't get any viable DNA." Abby forcibly stopped crying and eased away from her friend. "Gibbs, this is my friend Angela Montenegro…she works at the Jeffersonian as a Forensic Artist."

Angela carefully wiped at Abby's face with a handkerchief and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be ok hunny."

"No it won't." Abby stomped towards her test tubes, gesturing angrily. "Ducky can't give a yes or no answer…they couldn't find any teeth…and he…" she drew in a shuddering breath. "It can't be Timmy, Gibbs. It can't."

Angela's eyes widened at the name and she let her teeth graze her lower lip. "Abby, is that your computer guy?"

Abby nodded. "My Geek."

Suddenly the door behind them opened and Ducky stalked in, looking furious.

"Duck?" Gibbs asked, putting his hand on Abby's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"The entire body is useless!" He fumed. "If it is McGee, I wouldn't be surprised! The fragments are just disintegrating before my eyes and it is infuriating. I honestly don't know if I will be _able_ to identify the poor boy's remains."

That did it for Angela. "Maybe I can help?" She asked quietly, her face filled with hope.

XXXXxxxXXXX

"Where do you think you're going in such a hurry?" FBI Agent Seeley Booth caught up with Dr. Brennan as she hurried out of her office, fastening her coat, her bag hanging over her shoulder. "I thought we were having lunch?"

The Forensic Anthropologist grimaced apologetically. "I know Booth, but I just got a call from Angela…a friend of hers needs me."

Booth frowned and kept pace with her as she hurried through the Jeffersonian. "As in: A Body?"

Tempe nodded, wrenching open a door. "An NCIS Special Agent…they can't get DNA from a body they found and it's disintegrating – it was in a bad fire. They need to know if it was one of their agents or not."

Booth shrugged but followed her, grabbing her elbow and steering her away from her car towards where he had parked. "We'll take my car."

She gritted her teeth but hopped into the passenger side, fastening her seatbelt. "The agent is a friend of Angela's friend."

He shook his head and they rode in silence until they reached the entrance to the Naval Yard. As they approached, a tow truck pulled in front carrying a red Porsche and Bones smiled. "Don't drool."

"I'm not drooling! That's just a really, really nice car." Booth flashed his badge and they were allowed to continue through unhindered, following the tow-truck all the way. When they got to the NCIS Headquarters, Booth was eyed dubiously.

"Why do Federal Agencies always hate other Federal Agencies?" Bones asked curiously as they waited for someone to bring them to the morgue. "I notice that you don't like dealing with others-"

She broke off when someone she hadn't seen in a very long time appeared. "Dr. Mallard!" she cried out and gave him a brief but heartfelt hug.

"Oh my dear, I didn't realise it was you coming." Booth watched the two of them interact and immediately liked the elderly gentleman, especially since he offered Tempe his arm and began to walk her down towards an elevator.

"Dr. Mallard, this is my friend, Agent Booth."

Dr. Mallard froze and turned. "My dear boy, I am sorry, I didn't see you there. Pleased to meet you. I am Ducky."

Booth smiled and shook his hand. "Ducky?"

The old man shrugged and gave a soft smile. "Dr. Donald Mallard…the nickname could be much worse."

This made Booth laugh and Ducky immediately took a liking to him. "Do you know each other well?"

Bones shrugged. "We met at a conference when I was just starting out." She confessed, giving the elderly doctor a smile. "We kept in touch."

"Less frequently these past few years I am afraid. The last I heard from you, you were identifying genocide victims. I trust you have settled back into the Jeffersonian well?"

They kept up the small talk until they reached the morgue and Ducky paused.

"Forgive me, but I do not like seeing friends on my table." He confessed. "I find it quite upsetting. I hope you give us good news." He murmured softly, and let her go in first.

Booth frowned when he saw the remnants of the body on the table. There wasn't much left, and he could see why they had asked Bones for help. "God." He murmured, and absently crossed himself, saying a quiet prayer for whoever lay before them.

Brennan immediately snapped into work, pulling on a pair of gloves and stalking over to the table. Ducky discreetly turned on the recording devices as she began to speak.

"The body is very badly damaged, but I can tell you that it is male." She moved to the head of the table and looked over the remnants of the skull, her forehead creasing into a small frown. She kept her observations to herself as she made her way down the table until she reached the feet.

"My initial findings are that the victim is a male, between the ages of 25 to 35 years. Signs of blunt force trauma to the face. Either from being hit in the face with a blunt implement or from something heavy falling on him in the fire." She grabbed Booth as Angela and some other people they hadn't yet met walked into the room. Booth rolled his eyes as she gripped his neck and used him as a dummy, pointing out the fractures and injuries. He kept his eyes on the white haired man that had entered with the others. He was definitely military, and was listening intently to what Bones had to say, almost with a hunger. He had to be the team leader.

"There are signs of damage to the neck bones, but I'll be honest, without an in-depth investigation I can only say that the fire could have caused the cracks. Four broken ribs. It looks like one punctured the approximate area of where the heart should be, and I would give that as initial cause of death. It is however likely that the breaks were caused by falling debris."

"What else can you tell us Dr. Brennan?" Ducky asked quickly. "Your findings are quite similar to my own, although I admit that I did miss the damage to the face and skull."

Tempe allowed herself a brief, tight smile. "There are signs of other fractures. Here and here, but I'd have to look at it closer to work out if it is recent or not." She pointed midway between Booth's elbow and wrist. "And also signs of a bullet striking the hip bone here." Booth jumped a little as her fingers pressed against his waist and one of his eyebrows shot up.

"Easy Bones. This is getting a little personal."

"Be quiet Booth. You are the one who insisted on coming. This isn't a FBI matter." Brennan muttered, crossing the room and looking at the medical file that Ducky offered her.

"You are FBI?" The silver-haired man asked, sounding surprised.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth." Booth held out his hand and shook the other man's firmly. "I'm very sorry to hear about your agent. I hope that my partner and I can help."

"Special Agent Jethro Gibbs." Gibbs shook just as firmly, taking measure of the man by his handshake and the sincerity in his eyes. "Thank you for coming…though I don't think the invitation extended to you."

Seeley shrugged and jerked his thumb over at Bones. "Wherever she goes, I go."

"No he doesn't." Bones called over, her head buried in the files. "Wherever I go, he follows along like a lost puppy. I think he gets bored."

Booth's nose twitched and he shook his head exasperatedly. "Bones I told you – you don't go to crime scenes on your own. End of story. Besides, I'm here in an unofficial capacity. It's my day off. We _were_ supposed to be having lunch."

Gibbs nodded, grudgingly giving him a little smile. "This is Agent DiNozzo and Officer David. The one prowling around Ducky and your friend is Abby Scutio, our Forensic expert."

The four of them stood in silence as Abby and the others poured over the records comparing them and Booth stared at his feet.

"So…What happened?"

Gibb's eyes immediately went flinty. "La Vida Mala. We've been investigating them in connection to a couple of deaths…one of them made a threat in the interrogation room and we have them on cctv footage placing the bomb underneath Ziva's car, and their phone records. Another team is handling that part of the case." He replied shortly.

DiNozzo's eyes swivelled in their sockets to stare at Gibbs. "We're being taken off the case?" He asked, surprised.

Gibbs gave a curt nod. "The Director wants us to concentrate on finding out if that is McGee or not. And if it's not, it's up to us to find him. We have access to all the gang members that are picked up, so we can question whoever we want. Jen is pretty pissed about this." He gestured to the table in front of them and Booth suddenly realised that neither David nor DiNozzo would look at the body.

"You were close?" he asked quietly. Tony shrugged.

"He was a team mate. You know?"

Suddenly Ziva's hand lashed out and smacked the dark haired agent in the chest. "He was more than that and you know it Tony. He was a friend. A good friend."

"I wasn't saying that he wasn't!" Tony protested, rubbing his chest.

"Good, because someone who was not a friend would not stay up the entire night to fix your computer."

"No, Ziva. Probie would stay up all night to fix anyone's computer." Tony countered quickly. "He'd probably do it for Satan himself if he had a chance and it was an interesting enough model. But you are right-" he continued quickly as she looked likely to try to hit him again, "He was a good friend. One of the best. He'd take a bullet for you. And then feel guilty because he got blood on your shirt."

Both the agent and the officer shared a smile and Booth suddenly had an insight into the dynamics of the team.

"So…you're not a fed?" He asked Ziva innocently. The curly hair shook and she stuck her thumb into the loop on her jeans.

"No. I am a Mossad Officer on loan…" She trailed off as Ducky and Bones hurried back over to the table and began examining the skull again.

"Come on. Let's leave them to it." Gibbs snapped quickly. "Agent Booth, you can come up with us. Nobody is going to touch your Anthropologist down here. Unless of course Palmer decides to turn up for work. Even then, I'm sure the body would be able to defend her."

"Seriously, Boss, it was just a cup of coffee!"

"He spilled it." Gibbs returned with a snap and stalked out of the morgue.

XXXXxxxXXXX

An hour later, Dr. Brennan came to a stunning conclusion. "This isn't a body…"

Ducky and Abby looked at her strangely, and Angela put down her sketch pad.

"Sweetie, what do you mean?" She asked pointedly.

"This isn't a real body. Nothing adds up…" She frowned down at the skeleton worriedly. "The pelvis is in two pieces. We assumed that it was because the heat of the fire caused it to break in two, but look…one half is a male's pelvic bone, but the other half is a female…and here….this femur is slightly larger than the other. You would have to look closely, but they didn't come from the same body. The left hand and the right hand are different, too." She went through the body again, more thoroughly than she had before. "This is a fake."

Abby's face lit up and she raked her teeth across her lower lip. "It isn't McGee?"

"I wouldn't say so. Not unless he was half-man half-woman."

Ducky breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against an empty table. "Thank goodness for that. And I wouldn't say that to Agent DiNozzo, if I were you. When we find Timothy, he would make the poor boy's life a living nightmare."

Temperance smiled knowingly and stripped off her gloves. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this was a skeleton used for medical lectures, put together from different pieces of bodies to display the differences between male and female bodies. If you need me again, Dr. Mallard, please, call me. Angela?"

Angela put down her pencil and flashed a smile, relieved that it wasn't Abby's friend. "I'm done, too. Whoever owned this skull, he was a real looker." She'd come to the conclusion that it wasn't McGee a few moments before Brennan's declaration. It couldn't have been McGee unless the guy's head had shrunk and he'd suddenly turned into a black man. She held up the sketch-pad and shrugged. "I was going to put an afro on him, but I wasn't sure what way he'd have worn his hair. What do you say we go up and rescue Booth from the scary Israeli lady?"

Abby grinned and nodded as Ducky approached the table feeling much stronger than he had before. "I'll come with you and spread the good news. Thank you so much!" She hugged Brennan enthusiastically before turning back to Angela and squeezing tight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

XXXXxxxXXXX

Gibbs took the news much better than Abby had expected. He stayed in his seat, and the only change in his posture was for his eyebrows to furrow. "A medical skeleton?"

Brennan nodded, looking around for Booth who was sitting at DiNozzo's desk with his feet up. "Yes."

Gibbs turned to stare at Abby, who shrugged. "I didn't give it to him! Although it is Halloween in two weeks time…Awwwh, Timmy!" she pressed her fingers to her lips and pouted. "He bought me a skeleton for Halloween! That was so sweet of him!"

As she spoke, she turned to look at McGee's desk, and Gibbs shook his head while rolling his eyes. Whatever kind of a relationship the Geek and the Goth had, it was definitely weird.

"Ok, so if he wasn't in the apartment, then where is he?" Booth asked quietly, looking over his shoulder at the large screen depicting some of the crime scene photos. Getting to his feet, he looked at each of them closely, quickly joined by Gibbs.

"I've sent DiNozzo and David back to the apartment to see if they can find anything else." He mused quietly, cocking his head to the side as he looked at the bedroom photographs. "Neighbours reported a disturbance about a half-hour before the fire department arrived. There were no units available to respond until ten minutes after the fire department got there."

"Plenty of time to move a body…" Booth mused quietly as Gibbs nodded. "No security cameras around. No witnesses. It's a good area, but the neighbours still didn't go see what was going on."

"Too afraid to go out and see what was beyond their doors." Brennan interjected quietly. "Hey, Booth, isn't that the car we were behind on the way in?"

Booth turned to look at the picture of the small red sports car and nodded. "Yeah – this was your agents? Man, you guys must get paid more than I do."

Gibbs shook his head. "McGee also wrote. Writes." He corrected himself quickly. The slip, though, was telling, and Abby glared at him.

"He's a best selling author. Crime novels. Thom E. Gemcity." She declared proudly, sounding much more herself now she knew her buddy in crime busting was not lying on Ducky's table.

"Really?" Booth sounded impressed, and his eyebrows shot up. "I never realised he was a Fed too…wow….oh!" He snapped his fingers and pointed at Gibbs, but a warning narrowing of the eyes made him fall silent before he could utter the words 'you must be Tibbs!'. "Bones writes too." He finished lamely, clearing his throat with some awkwardness. "Crime…"

"You've read his books?" Brennan looked surprised, and Booth's cheeks reddened.

"Yeah…I liked yours so much I thought I'd read some others while I was at it." He back-pedalled quickly, seeing the small measure of hurt in her eyes. "Right, back to the car. It's a nice car."

"It's down in the garage." Abby smirked, seeing the FBI agent squirm. "We were afraid it might get 'jacked…uh, anyhow, we got it towed to the garage."

"And it was just sitting outside his apartment, untouched…" Booth murmured softly, looking closer at the photo.

Gibbs nodded, waiting patiently for the man to get to the point. Booth began to talk quietly to himself, and Gibbs had to lean in even closer to hear him.

"And the Vida Mala actually phoned to warn you that they were doing something to your agents? And that guy, Gordo actively threatened them in the interrogation room…."

They were both moving before he'd actually gotten to the end of the sentence, and by the time they reached the elevator they were running, Abby and Brennan following looking confused. The doors to the elevator shut before they caught up, and with a growl, Abby stomped her foot.

Gibbs slammed through the door into the garage and half-ran to the tarp covered car in the corner, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the agents working on another case.

Booth helped him tear the tarp away, and stared at the car in consternation. "I don't suppose you have the keys?" He asked anxiously, but Gibbs went down on one knee and stared at the lock, removing two slim pieces of metal from his pocket. Within seconds the trunk was open to reveal a blanket covered lump.

"McGee, you had better be alive." He growled as he reached out to grasp the heavy blanket and twitch it aside. He felt his knees go weak when he saw a pair of angry blood-shot eyes stare up at him.

Booth too felt a measure of relief when he realised the guy was still alive. Tim was bound tightly in what was probably an entire roll of duct tape, which also encompassed his face and mouth, leaving only a small space for his nose. The entire package finished up beneath just beneath his eyes, which were almost completely red. Aside from that, he pretty much completely filled the small trunk of the car, doubled over in a position that had to be uncomfortable for someone the man's size and build.

"Well, now, that's not something that comes as standard with a Porsche. Though I'm sure some people would like to have their own Special Agent that comes as standard." He quipped as he took out his pen knife and began to carefully slice through the man's bonds. Gibbs grinned and took out his own knife, calling over his shoulder for one of the other agents to get Ducky ASAP.

"Been looking all over for you." Gibbs's voice was uncharacteristically soft as he began to carefully slice through the tape covering his face and holding him to the bed of the trunk. As he pealed it away, his eyes briefly glinted with a hard light as he saw the multitude of bruises that covered Tim's normally clean-shaven peachy skin. They had him free in less than a minute, but Gibbs warned him to lie still until Ducky arrived.

"Sure thing, Boss." McGee rasped, his voice hoarse from trying to be heard from the trunk of the car. "Anybody got any water?"

Gibbs looked around at the small gaggle of Agents that were staring at them, and barked for one of them to go get water. Gibbs reached inside the trunk and supported him as he fought to lift his head. "Wanna tell me what happened? Aside from being stuffed in the trunk by the Vida Mala?"

Tim managed a weak half-smile and shrugged, allowing Gibbs to put his jacket beneath his head to cushion it. "Woke up to find El Gordo and some of his buds standing over my bed. I managed to grab the baseball bat I keep under the pillow and chased 'em out into the living room. Only there were more of them there. I tried to fight'em off, Boss, but there were too many of them. My place is pretty much trashed, isn't it?"

Gibbs grimaced apologetically, and shook his head. "They burned it down, Tim. I'm sorry."

McGee sighed heavily and let his eyes close as his head flopped back onto the jacket. "Damn. Damn, damn, damn." After a few moments he sighed again and opened his eyes. "Could have been worse. Could have been me in there, I guess." Catching the look on Booth's face, he grimaced again. "You thought I was in there, didn't you?"

"We found the skeleton under your bed. If DiNozzo were here, he'd probably tell you it should have been in your closet." Gibbs laughed softly, seeing the humour in Tim's eyes as he spoke.

"That's why it was under the bed. Tony's broken into my apartment way too many times for it to stay in there. I'm sorry you all thought that, Boss."

"It's ok, McGee. We've got you, and that's all that matters."

XXXXxxxXXXX

Tony scrubbed his foot into the ashes as Ziva poked in the ashes by the window. "Do you think it is him?" She asked finally, her lower lip sticking out slightly.

"Dunno." Tony sniffed and looked at the huge puddle of still hot metal that used to be his shelves. "It was a skeleton, y'know. Could be. Could be one of the Vida guys, but then, where's McGee?"

They both shared a long look, and Ziva used the toe of her boot to move aside a piece of charred roofing, half-expecting to find another skull staring up at her. Instead, she found a silver pen, miraculously undamaged by the fire. Pulling out a plastic bag, she carefully placed it inside and stowed it in her NCIS jacket. "For Sarah…if she wants it." She explained sheepishly. "And if McGee is somewhere…then he will want whatever he can salvage."

Tony nodded and turned away, pretending to be looking at the debris, but in reality, trying to hide the quick tear that shone in his eye. "Right. We might as well pick up what we can in that case." He spotted a neighbour looking in through the heat damaged door and resisted the urge to scowl. "You want something? Got something to say?" He asked heatedly, and the woman shook her head.

"Nothing that would help. Only…I'm sorry about your friend. He was a nice guy…I think." She shrugged again and walked on, the sound of claws scrabbling on concrete coinciding with a muffled bark.

"We should be questioning people." Ziva growled angrily, and Tony shook his head.

"Redmond's team are trying to hunt down Cesar's guys, but they've all gone to ground or something. When they find them, we'll know and then we'll start questioning. Among other things."

They both jumped when Tony's cell phone rang shrilly, and Ziva watched as he conducted a conversation mostly consisting of grunts on his part. When he hung up, he turned and looked at her, his eyes sparkling. "We got him!" He crowed, doing a little dance, stirring up the ashes.

Ziva's face brightened and she waited for him to calm down before quizzing him. "Where? How? Is he ok? Answer me, Anthony!"

"We should have checked the trunk of the car, Zeeeeva!" he slung an arm around her shoulder, guiding her towards the mangled door. "Turns out they stuffed him inside and torched the apartment as a warning. Ducky's having a look at him now, and they'll probably bring him to Bethesda for a few hours." He couldn't quite wipe the grin from his face, though he knew he'd have it gone before he met McGee again.

"But what about the skeleton? Was it one of Cesar's men?"

Tony shook his head as the ducked beneath the tape, huffing a laugh. "It was a Halloween present for Abby. He had it under the bed. I'm surprised; I'd a thought he'd keep it in the closet."

Ziva rolled her eyes at the grin and fought back her own smirk that tweaked at her lips. She took one more look around the destroyed apartment and allowed herself to smile as relief rolled through her. Their team was whole again. No matter what had happened, or what was to come, that was the only thing that mattered.


End file.
